Leaders of Canadian organizations are more confident than American, British and Australian they can beat back targeted Internet attacks, according to a new survey.

The study, paid for by BAE Systems, which sells security and data solutions for governments, carriers and the transportation industry, showed that Canadians were the most confident when asked if their company and their sector were well equipped to prevent targeted cyber attacks.

The vast majority– 92 per cent — were confident in their organization’s ability to prevent targeted attacks compared to 88 per cent of respondents overall. A similar majority (90%) were confident in their sector’s ability to prevent attacks versus 78% overall.

Respondents were 350 strategic and IT decision makers in the UK, US, Australia and Canada surveyed last fall.

Interestingly, though, 30 per cent of Canadian organizations surveyed did not have, or were unaware of, crisis plans in the event of a cyber attack on their company. Of those respondents who did have crisis plans, Canadians were the least likely to say these plans were well publicized ( 37 per cent compared to 54 per cent) overall.

Canada’s financial regulator is warning banks and insurance companies they need to beef up protection against advanced cyber intrusions from a growing list of actors.

“The increasing frequency and sophistication of recent cyber-attacks has resulted in an elevated risk profile for many organizations around the world,” the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions said in a note earlier this week. “As a result, significant attention has recently been paid to the overall level of preparedness against such attacks by these organizations, including financial institutions…”

OSFI said it expects financial institutions to monitor their level of preparedness, and to this end it provided guidance on how companies should conduct a “self-assessment.”

Salim Hasham, an associate partner at PwC Consulting, said banks “have been at the forefront of [cyber] security for a long time” because they realize “they are really just very complex information organizations.”

“If you look at a bank today, it’s really just an IT company that takes deposits,” he said.

MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO – The Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, will launch Cyber Security Awareness Month. He will be joined by Michael Kaiser, Executive Director of the U.S. National Cyber Security Alliance and Michael Eisen, Chief Legal Officer for Microsoft Canada.

Media availability will follow.

Media who wish to attend must register on site by 1:45 p.m. Parking for Media is available in the Events parking lot. Please enter the building through the Events entrance.

CANADA – Most Canadian companies aren’t concerned about data breaches involving their customers’ personal information — even though these same companies report they are collecting and holding more personal information than ever before, according to the results of a poll released today.

The poll conducted by EKOS for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada found that 42 per cent of businesses surveyed are not concerned about security breaches.

The news release is available here. The final report by EKOS is available here.